willison



]. WILLISON.

CAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED 050.9. 1910.

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Patented Aug. 8, 1916.-

1. WILLISON. CAR COUPLING.

AFPLlCATION FILED DEC. 9,1910- Patented Aug. 8,1916.

,5 SHEETS-SHEET 2 WITNESSES WW INVENTQR I [am J. WILLISON.

CAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED DECQ, 1910.

Patented Aug". 8,1916. 5 SHEETSSHEET 3.

INVENTOR WITNESSES WILLISON.

CAR COUPLING. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 9. 1910.

Patented Aug. 8, 1916.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

J- ,WILLISON.

CAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 9,1910. 1,1 9%,}. 10. Patented Aug. 8, 1916.

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N n i k WITNESSES INVENTOR FEED S'E'IE PATENT @FYFI CE.

JOHN VILLISON, GF DERBY, ENGLANI), ASSIGNGR TO THE NATIONAL T/IALLEABLE CASTINGS COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPOBA'IIUN OF OHIO.

CAR-COUPLING.

meagre.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 12 9.1 .65.

Application filed December 9, 1910. Serial No. 596,533.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN NILLISON, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Derby, county of Derby, England, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Car-Couplings, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation showing the preferred form of my improved car coupler and illustrating one form of uncoupling mechanism; Fig. 2 is afront elevation showing another form of uncoupling mechanism in connection with my improved coupler; by which the parts may be operated from the opposite side of the car from that shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a front elevation showing an uncoupling mechanism in connection with the usual transversely extending rotary uncoupling rod, with its inner lever at the center of the end sill. Fig. 4c is a longitudinal section showing the coupler in locked position and illustrating one method of looking the lock; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the lock in lockset position. Fig. 6 is a sectional top plan view showing the parts in locked position; Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 showing the open position of the knuckle; Fig. 8 is a cross section on the line VIIIVIII of Fig. 6 showing the lockset position in dotted lines. Figs. 9 and 10 are views similar to Figs. 4 and 5 showing a modified form of the locking block and cooperating coupler walls.

My invention relates to the class of car couplers and is designed to provide a simple form of car coupler which will provide all thedesirable functions of locking, unlocking, locksetting and knuckle throwing, without complication and without the use of small fragile parts. It is also designed to afford a knuckle opener and lock lift which may be pulled and operated from any point at the end of the car and for that reason is flexible at least in its portion external to the coupler head and passing through the exit hole therein.

In carrying out my invention the lock and the knuckle opener are formed as separate elements, and the knuckle opener, in addition to its function of opening the knuckle, preliminarily acts to release and lift the look from its locking engagement with the knuckle. In case the knuckle is restrained from outward movement, when coupled with an opposing car, so that the normal movement of knucklc-opening cannot take place, the knuckle opener acts both to lift the lock, and also to assist it to tip rearwardly into its lockset position. In such case a subsequent outward movement of the knuckle will move the look from its lockset shelf or ledge, and the lock having been removed therefrom, is supported on the knuckle tail until the knuckle is again closed.

In the case where opening movement of the knuckle is unrestrained the lock will be lifted far enough to clear the knuckle tail, after which the knuckle will be pulled open. The combined knuckle opener and lock lifter consists of or contains a flexible connection, preferably in the form of a chain, one end of which is preferably attached to the knuckle tail, whence the connection extends laterally and downwardly underneath the lock. Thence it extends preferably upwardly and laterally through the side wall of the coupler, through the guard arm, and thence to an actuating lever or connection.

I In my copending application Serial No. 579,686, filed August 30th, 1910, I show a coupler upon which the present invention is an improvement, the pulling rod of said invention or at least a part of it now being done away with, and replaced by the chain or flexible connection.

It is evident that within the scope of my present invention, the end portion of the chain or other flexible connection which is attached or operates the knuckle may be in the form of a hook or other desirable attachment, the main feature of this portion of my invention lying in the flexibilitvof that portion of the knuckle opener which slides in and out through the wall of the coupler head during the operations, so that a pull in any direction upon the flexible connection outside the head will cause the coupler to operate.

The present invention also relates to certain modifications which may be made in the lock-to-the-lock shown in the above mentioned application.

In the drawings, referring to the forms shown in Figs. 1 to 8 inclusive, 2 represents the coupler head, 3 the knuckle, and 4 the knuckle pin. The knuckle tail 5 is preferably provided with a horn (i, projecting into a recess in the coupler head to assist in resisting the pulling strain. The wall of the coupler head which receives the horn is slightly spaced apart from the rounded rear surface of the tail and horn, except in that portion 7 of the wall which is in the rear of and substantially in line with the knuckle pin 4. Here, the knuckle tail and the portion 7 of the wall are shaped to fit against each other snugly, thus taking the shocks of builing. In. order to provide for variations in the parts, the pin is preferably made slightly smaller than the hole in the knuckle.

The locking block 8 moves vertically and is preferably of the shape shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. Its locking facesare flat and substantially parallel, and one of these faces fits against the wall of the head while the opposite face fits against a corresponding face on the knuckle tail. The head portion forms the locking block proper, while the remainder forms a depending leg 9, having a forward projection 10, which acts as a lockto-the-lock or anticreeping device. The forward portion of the head is provided with 11 depending lip portion 11, and the rear upper part of the head is slightly beveled as shown at 12, to allow the lock to tilt into the lockto-the-lock position shown in Fig. 4. In this position the lugs 10 enters a recess 13 in the head. lVhen lifted, the head of the locking block enters a pocket 14, formed in the top portion of the coupler head.

To release the lock from the lock-to-thelock, and lift it, as well as to guide it to the rear lockset ledge of the coupler, shown at 15, I employ a knuckle opener having the portion which moves through the coupler head to its exterior in the form of a flexible connection, shown as a chain 16. The inner end of this chain in the form shown is secured to the knuckle tail and preferably to the horn portion thereof. In this form, the

chain is attached by forming a vertical hole a through the knuckle horn, the top surface of the horn having oppositely extending re'- cesses Z1 communicating with the hole. The chain is provided at its inner end with a T- shaped member 17 and when the chain is dropped through the hole in the tail the lateral legs of the T enter the grooves or recesses in the tail, and hold this end of the chain. From the knuckle tail, the chain extends transversely and downwardly, passing beneath the bottom of the look. It is thence preferably extended upwardly within the coupler head, and thence passes through a lateral hole 18, shown as provided in the guard arm of the coupler, its external end being connected to any suitable operating lever or connection.

When a pulling strain is imparted to the chain, it draws out through the hole in the coupler head, and its intermediate portion engages the lower end of the lock, thereby lifting it. This lower end of the lock preferably has a downwardly and rearwardly beveled face 19, which is located directly above the chain, so that the chain engages this beveled face, causing the leg 9 to swing backwardly under the first engagement of the chain therewith. This releases the lockto-the-lock in two ways: first, byacting on the beveled face 19; and, second, by taking the weight of the lock 011 the chain, thus causing the leg to move rearwardly on account of its forwardly overhung head. As the chain is further pulled out, the lock will be lifted to a point where its head is freed from looking engagement with the knuckle tail, whereupon the tension on the chain will then swing the knuckle open, and as soon as this is done, and the tension upon the chain is relieved, the lock will settle slightly until it is supported upon the knuckle tail, where it will remain until the knuckle is closed, when the lock again drops into-the position of Fig. I, in which it locks the knuckle and is itself locked against displacement by shocks or jars. The above action takes place when the coupler is not interlocked with an opposing coupler and when the knuckle is, therefore, free to swing open as soon as the lock is removed from the path of its tail.

In case the knuckle is prevented from opening, as when coupled to an opposing car, the lock will be lifted as before, and at the same time a tendency to rearward movement imparted thereto by the co-action of the chain with the beveled face 19. The lifting movement will continue in this case, not merely until the head of the locking block is released from its locking engagement with the knuckle tail, but slightly far- 7 ther, until the lower end of the leg of the locking block reaches the rear lockset shelf or ledge 15 of the coupler cavity, when said leg will be moved back onto. said ledge by the action of the chain or flexible connection on the beveled face as before described, and by the gravity action of the forwardly overhung head of the lock. After this has been accomplished a further pull upon the chain will have no effect, since the knuckle is restrained from movement. In this position the lock is removed from the path of the knuckle and if the knuckle is now pulled open as by the drawing away of an opposing car coupled therewith, the rib 5 on its tail will engage the depending flange 11 on the head of the lock, and at the same'time, the horizontally inclined surface of the tail inside the rib will act on the bottom of the flange and projection 11. The rib, therefore,

will tend to pull the lock forward off its lockset seat, and at the same time, the weight being taken on the horizontally inclinedto-p of the tail, will also act to lift the lock and to swing its leg forwardly, These actions will draw the lock off the lockset shelf, whereupon it is suspended upon the tail of the knuckle where it remains during the completion of the knuckle opening movement. On the inward movement of the knuckle tail, the lock will move downwardly slightly within its pocket until the tail has passed it, when it will drop down by gravity into the locking position shown in Fig. 1.

In Figs. 9 and 10, I show a modification of the lock-to-the-lock feature. In this form, instead of the recess in the coupler cooperating with a projection on the leg of the lock, I do away with such projection and recess and also with the beveling of the upper rear corner of the lock. In this form this upper rear corner portion 21 of the head 8 engages a rear recess 22, in the back wall of the coupler cavity to form the lock-tothe-lock. Fig. 9 shows the parts in locked position, illustrating this rear lock-to-thelock. In this form when the chain is drawn out and begins to act upon the inclined face 19 of the lock leg, it will swing this leg backwardly both by reason of the bevel and by reason of the forwardly overhung head of the lock, thus causing the upper rear corner of the lock to swing forwardly and upwardly out of the lock-to-the-lock recess in the rear coupler wall. The other movements of the parts are the same as described in the first form, and parts in these figures similar to those in the first form are marked with similar numerals with the letter a ap-- plied.

The advantages of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The parts are simple, few in number and easy to make and assemble. Little or no machining of the parts is required, these being large and heavy and not liable to breakage. A flexible knuckle opener is provided which acts directly upon the knuckle with a pull ing movement thus eliminating the necessity of levers, toggles or cam surfaces for accomplishing the knuckle opening. In other words, a knuckle opener as an intermediate element between the chain and the knuckle is done away with, with a great resultant gain in the ease of operation. Preliminarily to the pulling movement which opens the knuckle, the flexible member frees the lock from its lock to the lock engagement and lifts it.

The flexible lock lifter and knuckle thrower adapts itself with great readiness to various forms of uncoupling mechanism, as may be seen by referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, where it is shown that it is possible to operate the parts with equal facility from any point outside of and in any direction from the coupler; thus, in Fig. 1, I show a chain as extended toward the side of the car where it can be easily reached by the brakeman and where it may be attached to a hook rod 24, the chain extension here being on the same side of the coupler as the exit hole in the coupler side. In Fig. 2, I show a form where the chain extends over a curved guide 23 (clearly shown in Fig. 8) and thence extends downwardly and sidewise under the coupler and is attached to a rod 24; extending to the side of the car and resting in a suitable bracket and a yoke or strap 26 secured to the end sill or the deadwood or to the coupler itself. The brakeman by seizing the handle 27 and pulling thereon will thus pull on the chain and actuate it as before. In Fig. 3, I show a form where the chain extension after passing out through the exit hole extends outwardly and upwardly over a suitable guide 28 to the usual attachment on the crank arm 29 of the usual oscillating operating lever 30. Although I have only illustrated uncoupling mechanisms which pull the chain respectively, to the right, to the left, and up wardly, said flexible lifter and knuckle thrower will operate with equal facility under a rearward pull thereon, or a pull in any direction whatever. The advantage of this feature in simplifying the arrangement of the uncoupling mechanism will be obvi ous to those skilled in the art.

The flexible connection may take other forms than a chain, and such flexible connection may be secured to the knuckle or tail at any desirable point and by any desirable means, or may open the knuckle through intermediate mechanism. A por- 100 tion or portions of the flexible connection may take the form of a bar or rod, so long as the portion which slides in and out through the aperture in the head is flexible; the flexible connection may contact directly 105 with the lock or may act upon an intermediate part or parts which engage the lock, and many changes may be made in the form and arrangement of the head, the knuckle, the locking block, etc., without departing 110 from my invention.

I claim:

1. In a car coupler, a head, a pivoted knuckle, a tilting and vertically-movable lock, a lock-lifting and knuckleopening 115 member, said member being attached to the tail of the knuckle and passing transversely across the head beneath the lock, said member being flexible as to that portion which passes beneath the lock and having a sliding 12o engagement with the lower surface of said lock, and a channel formed for said member beneath the floor of the coupler cavity, in which the member depends when inoperative and out of which, the portion be- 125 neath the lock is raised as it moves transversely.

2. In a car coupler, a head, a pivoted knuckle, a tilting and vertically movable lock, and a flexible lock lifting and knuckle 130 throwing member, said member being attached at one end to the tail of the knuckle and having a point of support on the coupler head, said flexible member depending beneath the lock from its point of attachment to the knuckle and its point of support on the coupler head when the lock is in lowermost position, and having a transverse sliding movement with the lower surface of the lock to lift the lock, the said member being adapted to move across the point of support and to rise substantially into the plane of the point of attachment and point of support as it lifts the lock, the further transverse movement of the said member being adapted to pull the knuckle open.

3. In a car coupler, a coupler head and knuckle, a tilting and vertically1novable lock having an engagement with an undercut surface on the coupler head, to afford a loek-to-the-lock, the lock having a depending leg with a bottom inclined face, and a flexible connection secured to the knuckle tail and arranged to act upon the inclined face by a transverse movement to tilt the leg of the lock rearwardly and to liftit. V

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN VVILLISON. Witnesses:

HARRY E. .ORR, CHESTER K. BROOKS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. 0. 

